Going into their Black Friday matchup with the Philadelphia Eagles, the Chicago Bears have a couple of things going for them, despite the daunting idea of taking on the reigning Super Bowl Champions.
Those two things are pretty straightforward: confidence and momentum. And, one Eagles reporter sees it. Eliot Shorr-Parks of 94WIP had this to say, recently:
"The Bears have won 5 straight games and have something the Eagles could probably use some of right now — confidence."
Moreover, Shorr-Parks went on about why this is such a stark difference between both teams:
"That is the concerning part of this game. The Bears believe in themselves. The Eagles seem to be lacking confidence on offense right now. The Bears seem to be having fun. The Eagles do not."
The Bears and Eagles are getting ready for a much more even matchup than it might seem
It is certainly understandable for some Bears fans to feel the weight of this matchup on Friday. The Eagles are, after all, the champs. But, coming straight from the mouth of a Philadelphia beat reporter, it's hard not to take those words seriously.
The Eagles are winning games, but they're winning them in ugly fashion. And, their most recent contest ended in a loss after they failed to score a single point in the second half against the Dallas Cowboys.
Sure, the Cowboys are a different defense now with Quinnen Williams, but the Eagles' issues go much deeper. Some fans want offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo fired (and by some, I mean most). Philly cannot get anything going offensively. They can't get into a rhythm. Inconsistency is the only thing they're consistent at on that side of the ball.
Prior to the loss to Dallas, the Eagles had won a pair of games while scoring 26 points total (16 in one, 10 in the other).
That's absolutely worrisome if you're the Eagles.
Meanwhile, the Bears might be winning games in dramatic fashion and seeing things come down to the wire more often than not, but they're having fun doing it. And the confidence is oozing out of that locker room thanks to head coach Ben Johnson.
Just watching both teams, this year, it's easy to see the differences. Johnson has the Bears playing confident football while Nick Sirianni's team is all over the place and lacking the ability to create consistent momentum.
Read more: CBS cameras captured the exact moment Aaron Rodgers knew he'd lost to the Bears
The Bears are a confident bunch and they're winning games -- and other teams, along with their media, are starting to take notice.